In my life the piano sings
Brings me words that are not the strength of strings
Fiery rain and rubies cooling in the sun
Now I see that my world has only begun
Notes that roll on winds with swirling wings
Brings me words that are not the strength of strings

When I'm feeling high or I'm feeling low
Or there is no change
Somehow days keep melting into the night
And there's always light on the cosmic range
I am always high I am always low
There is always change

Hear the strings are bending in harmony
Not so far from the breaking on the cosmic range

In my life the piano sings
Brings me words that are not the strength of strings
Fiery rain and rubies cooling in the sun
Now I see that my world has only begun
Notes that roll on winds with swirling wings
Brings me words that are not the strength of strings

1 Comment

General CommentGene Clark was a founding member of the Byrds, and the title of this incredible song is a reference to the chorus "Lay Down Your Weary Tune," a Bob Dylan song covered by the Byrds on "Turn! Turn! Turn!" The lyrics of "Lay Down" (full Dylan version) are copied below.

Both "Lay Down" and "Strength of Strings" were written as their respective authors were spending time on the California coast, observing the power and wonder of the ocean. In "Lay Down" Dylan seems to urge recognition of the profound beauty and power of nature, reverence to the music it creates, and a softening of the heart to "weary tunes" and entrapments that really do not matter in the scheme of things. He asks his listener to rest herself 'neath the "strength of strings" of nature, too powerful for any human voice to "hope to hum."

Written years later, "Strength of Strings" seems both tortured and ecstatic. Clark is brought words and sounds that are "not" the strength of strings he once advised others to rest beneath. The lyrics and the building emotional swell do not encourage "rest," but perhaps a breaking free, and a realization that his life has "only just begun."
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Lay down your weary tune, lay down
Lay down the song you strum
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum

Struck by the sounds before the sun
I knew the night had gone
The morning breeze like a bugle blew
Against the drum of dawn

Lay down your weary tune, lay down
Lay down the song you strum
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum

The ocean wild like an organ played
The seaweed wove its strands
The crashing waves like cymbals clashed
Against the rocks and the sand

Lay down your weary tune, lay down
Lay down the song you strum
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum

I stood unwound beneath the skies
And clouds unbound by laws
The crying rain like a trumpet sang
And asked for no applause

Lay down your weary tune, lay down
Lay down the song you strum
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum

The last of leaves fell from the trees
And clung to a new love's breast
The branches bare like a banjo moan
To the winds that listen the best

I gazed down in the river's mirror
And watched its winding strum
The water smooth ran like a hymn
And like a harp did hum

Lay down your weary tune, lay down
Lay down the song you strum
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum